TODAY’S STUDY: AT THE EDGE (WATER FOR ENERGY, ENERGY FOR WATER)

Water is the tipoff. Awareness about it is rising fast. It is no longer something to be taken for granted. It is the herald. The world is at the edge of a major shift.

Those unable to see beyond their bank accounts may go on thinking only about filling their gas guzzlers and gobbling their steaks but civilization is moving recklessly toward a transition.

Symbolic: A couple of years ago, T. Boone Pickens bought into Texas wind. He was on the verge of building the world’s biggest on-shore wind farm when he announced he would not go forward because he could not get the transmission lines he needed.

Subsequent reporting discovered he could have had the transmission; what he could not get was the water rights along the transmission corridors. That was what he really wanted. Some accounts say the billionaire oil and gas entrepreneur is slowly becoming the biggest owner of water rights in the U.S.

As the report highlighted below explains, there is a nexus at which energy and water meet. To sustain the vital energy lifeline that plugged-in modernity needs, it will need to manage its water very consciously.

Compromised: Natural gas reserves that require drilling through and despoiling the water table to get at; uranium mining that uses up and ruins the local water supply and leaves waste in the ground to slowly migrate into the entire water system; and highly water-intensive forms of electricity generation ranging from coal and nuclear to old-style solar power plants.

This way of living is at the edge. A new, cautious consciousness is raising its rough cruel unblinking eyes. For some, those who live wisely or were born lucky, this may be a simple shift of perspective; for others, it will be much more dramatic.

Addressing the Energy-Water Nexus: A Blueprint for Action and Policy Agenda
May 2011 (American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy)

Introduction

In the simplest of terms, every drop of water saved in the U.S. saves energy, and every unit of energy saved saves water. That overlap between energy and water has come to be known as the “energy-water nexus.”

In 2005, the California Energy Commission found that sourcing, moving, treating, heating, collecting, re-treating, and disposing of water consumed 19 percent of the state’s electricity, 30 percent of its natural gas, and 88 billion gallons of diesel fuel each year, and those amounts grow each year (CEC 2005). Similar detailed analyses have not been done elsewhere in the country, but additional such research on a regional level is needed. Nationally, the River Network’s 2009 report entitled The Carbon Footprint of Water estimated water-related energy use accounts for 13 percent of the nation’s total electricity consumption, at least 520 million megawatt-hours annually (River Network 2009).

Likewise, the U.S. Geological Survey, in its report entitled Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2005, estimated that 49 percent of the nation’s total water use and 53 percent of fresh surface-water withdrawals went into the production of thermoelectric power (USGS 2009). Much of that water use is termed “non-consumptive” because water is returned to its original source, even though its qualities have changed, especially temperature and pollutant levels. Some of that withdrawn water, however, becomes “consumptive” when it is lost to evaporation. Estimates of the amount of water lost to consumption in energy production ranges widely because of variances associated with climate and with thermoelectric generation versus hydroelectric generation. Nevertheless, an approximate average of 23 gallons per kilowatt-hour at least provides a rough indicator of quantity (USGS 2009).

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For the past 30 years, strategies to conserve energy and increase the efficiency of energy use have been widely pursued. Similar efforts in the conservation and efficient use of water have occurred over the past 20-plus years. However, the two communities have historically not worked together in a coherent, collaborative manner, and instead generally created separate but parallel efforts. These separate activities could realize significant benefits from coordination.

Recognizing this need for collaborative actions, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) and the Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE) secured a grant from the Turner Foundation to bring these two communities together to establish a blueprint for future joint efforts and to envision a policy agenda that could drive actions at the federal, state, local, and watershed levels.

During November and early December 7 of 2010, workshop invitees completed a priority-setting survey. The results of that survey appear in Appendix 1, and helped shape the agenda for the workshop that followed. On December 9, 2010, 54 individuals representing 41 diverse organizations convened for a full-day meeting in Washington D.C. to create the basis of this blueprint. This document represents the outcome of that effort. Appendix 2 contains the full roster of attendees.

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The workshop addressed three broad elements: policy/codes, research, and programs. Participants contributed via plenary discussions, breakout discussion groups, and posts to organized flip charts. In total, participants at the meeting identified 11 themes related to policy and codes, 12 related to research, and 8 related to programs. Each theme included a large number of specific suggestions. At the end of the day participants voted on priority areas. (See Appendix 3 for the raw output of the meeting.) ACEEE and AWE staff then distilled the many ideas advanced at the workshop and integrated the priority areas identified into this blueprint document.

This document uses the words “energy” and “electricity” interchangeably, and our use of the word “water” generally refers to treated water and wastewater. The terms do not include all possible forms of energy or water. For example, those resources used in agriculture and processes related to extractive and industrial endeavors are not part of this blueprint. However, water used in electricity generation is included.

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Thematic Elements for the Blueprint For Action

1. Increase the level of collaboration between the water and energy communities in planning and implementing programs.

2. Achieve a deeper understanding of the energy embedded in water and the water embedded in energy.

3. Learn from and replicate best practice integrated energy-water efficiency programs.

4. Integrate water into energy research efforts and vice versa.

5. Separate water utility revenues from unit sales, and consider regulatory structures that provide an incentive for investing in end-use water and energy efficiency.

6. Leverage existing and upcoming voluntary standards that address the energy-water nexus.

7. Implement codes and mandatory standards that address the energy-water nexus.

8. Pursue education and awareness opportunities for various audiences and stakeholders.

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The Policy Agenda

Negotiating the demanding changes outlined in this blueprint will not only require intense collaboration among stakeholders and advocates, it will also require government engagement and leadership. As a first step, an effort should begin immediately to identify specific policy opportunities, assess appropriate sources of authority, and identify sources of funding. This policy agenda has emerged from all of the preceding blueprint elements, and it includes important policy directions at the national, state, and local levels.

Encourage the implementation of regulatory structures and incentives that reward water and energy efficiency, including by establishing mechanisms to recognize the benefits of water and energy savings by programs, and consider setting water-saving targets for utilities, just as many states have energy-saving targets for utilities.

Encourage the Department of Energy to implement appliance and equipment standards for water-using appliances and equipment, and provide appropriate credit for direct and indirect water impacts in setting performance standards.

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Develop, enact, and implement building codes that recognize water and energy efficiency.

Develop and propose specific energy-water elements to add to existing federal legislation, such as the Water Resources Development Act, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, and the National Energy Conservation Policy Act.

Develop and propose tax incentives for water and energy efficiency, preferably performance based.

Direct and provide resources to such federal bodies as the Energy Information Administration, national laboratories, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Census Bureau, the Department of Interior, and the Environmental Protection Agency to collect water and energy end-use data from across sectors and to extend existing and future energy policy analyses to include water impacts where possible.

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Identify a platform enabling energy and water regulatory and governance bodies to communicate with each other readily.

Encourage increased collaboration among federal, state, and local agencies in such areas as the integrating of water and energy efficiency through the use of grant funding, research, regulation, and technical assistance from the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Agriculture, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Require coordination between energy and water regulatory authorities when considering siting of new power plants or significantly expanding existing power plants.

In addition to these policy items, there are critical initial research and collaboration items. In the next section we discuss the highest priority initial efforts including policy, research, and collaboration.

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Moving Forward

The completion of this blueprint represents an important first step in a long-term dynamic process. The blueprint is not intended to be comprehensive or all-inclusive. Rather, it is informative and direction setting, and we hope that the energy and water conservation communities will learn from it and be motivated to act.
In terms of next steps, we recommend that the following initial priorities be implemented over the next year:

1-Work to incorporate cost-effective energy and water efficiency measures into building codes, equipment standards, and tax credits (Policy Items 2, 3, and 5). Work on codes, standards, and tax incentives is now taking place. It is important that energy and water efficiency both be integral parts of these discussions, including work on national model residential and commercial building codes, Department of Energy efficiency standards, and tax incentives that will likely be discussed by Congress in the fall of 2011.

2-Survey existing programs that clearly address the energy-water nexus to identify examples of best practice programs. Identify the elements contributing to success of these programs so they can be replicated by other programs (Blueprint Item 3-A).

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3-Prepare a report for local and state policymakers and water utilities that identifies lessons learned from energy experiences, addresses rate-related barriers to efficiency program implementation, and helps to clarify utility disincentives for encouraging efficiency (Blueprint Item 5-A). This report will be a key foundation for Policy Agenda Item 1.

4-Develop a baseline of total energy use by water and wastewater utilities and water use by electric utilities, which would include raw water transmission and treatment; treated water distribution; and wastewater collection, treatment, and disposal energies, not just energy use at the plant level (Blueprint Item 2). Such a study would compile existing data in one place and provide a good foundation for education efforts on the importance of water for energy use and energy for water use.

5-Establish ongoing water and energy workgroups to increase cooperation among energy and water agencies, utilities, and communities, to share best practices and recognize the nexus as the first step toward working together (Blueprint Item 1-A). Such workgroups can coordinate both initial and ongoing efforts and facilitate information sharing.

These five steps will get energy and water cooperation efforts off to an excellent start and provide a foundation for further efforts.